His political rivals were predictably unimpressed by Mr. Trudeau’s self-described new standard of openness.

“I think it says a lot about his judgment and frankly about the Liberals’ classic sense of entitlement,” said NDP leader Tom Mulcair, reiterating his view that Mr. Trudeau should never have been accepting money for making speeches after becoming an MP.

Candice Bergen, minister of state for social development, adopted a similar line of attack.

“Not only did Justin Trudeau take money from charities, he also took money from taxpayers — and denied doing so, right up until he was caught,” she said in a statement.

“Justin Trudeau’s willingness to take hundreds of thousands of dollars from charity and now taxpayers raises serious questions of his judgment.”

But Mr. Trudeau insisted his public disclosure and swift action to remedy the mistake shows he’s setting a new standard of transparency.

“I am now explaining that to Canadians because one of the most important things about my approach in politics has been creating a level of accountability, of transparency, of openness, of honesty that means admitting when mistakes were made, taking responsibility for them and fixing them in an open manner that hopefully will continue to restore Canadians’ trust in our political system,” he said during an appearance with a provincial Liberal byelection candidate in Thornhill, Ont.

Mr. Trudeau’s disclosure was not entirely voluntary, however.

The House of Commons reviewed his expense claims after the NDP won unanimous consent last spring — including from Mr. Trudeau himself — for an examination of parliamentary resources used by MPs who engage in paid public speaking.

The motion was aimed squarely at Mr. Trudeau, who voluntarily disclosed during last year’s Liberal leadership contest that he has earned more than $1.3-million on the public speaking circuit since 2006, including $277,000 from 17 groups since he was first elected in 2008. The groups who paid for his speeches included charities and non-profit entities such as school boards, municipalities and universities.

Mr. Trudeau insisted at the time that he “absolutely never used any House or parliamentary resources” in the course of his public speaking career, which he ended after joining the leadership race.

But on Thursday, he said the clerk of the House of Commons last month advised that she had found a $672 travel claim from 2012 that was unrelated to his parliamentary duties.

Upon review, his office found that an invoice for transportation to a public speaking event had been paid by Speaker’s Spotlight, the agency that handled Mr. Trudeau’s speaking engagements. But the invoice had also been sent “inadvertently” to Mr. Trudeau’s parliamentary office, which used the same transportation company for Mr. Trudeau’s travel between Ottawa and his home riding in Montreal.

“Due to human error,” the invoice was bundled with other legitimate travel claims and submitted to the House of Commons administration for reimbursement.

“I did not detect this error when signing the claim,” Mr. Trudeau said in a written statement.

Once alerted last month to the one mistaken claim, Mr. Trudeau said he wrote a personal cheque to repay the full amount and asked his office for a more detailed review of his travel expenses. That turned up two instances in 2010 and 2009 when he claimed per diems for travel days that were primarily related to his public speaking career.

‘I did not detect this error when signing the claim’

Mr. Trudeau said he has reimbursed that amount — $168 — as well.

“As a member of Parliament, I take full, personal responsibility for the financial administration of my office, including these errors,” he said in the statement.

Last spring, Mr. Trudeau acknowledged that Canadians didn’t approve of MPs taking money to make speeches and offered to give back any speaking fees to groups who felt they didn’t get their money’s worth.

A spokeswoman said Thursday that all 17 groups who paid for speeches since Mr. Trudeau became an MP were contacted but none asked for their money back.

Justin Trudeau’s full statement

“On December 5th, the Clerk of the House of Commons, Ms. Audrey O’Brien, contacted the Liberal Whip’s office regarding a review – in response to the unanimous consent motion in the House of Commons – dealing with the disclosure of paid speaking engagements by Members of Parliament.

“At this time, my office was advised that a Parliamentary expense of $672.00 was claimed for an event two years ago on April 25, 2012, in Kingston, ON, that was unrelated to my Parliamentary duties.

“Once informed of the situation, my office conducted a review of the records related to this claim.

“It was discovered that this error related to a transportation claim. The claim in question had been paid appropriately by Speaker’s Spotlight, the agency that handled my paid speaking engagements. As had been our usual practice, the speaking agency paid the entire bill and the transportation company had received payment of the invoice directly from them. This practice allowed me to separate my expenses related to contracts with the speaking agency and those expenses related to my work as a Member of Parliament.

“In this case, the transportation company also inadvertently sent a copy of the invoice to my Parliamentary office. Despite the fact that the invoice did not bill my office, but rather to Speaker’s Spotlight, and indicated it had been paid in full to them, due to human error, the invoice was batched with a number of other invoices relating to my Parliamentary duties, which involved the same transportation company used for my regular travel between Ottawa and Montreal, totalling $2085.71. I did not detect this error when signing the claim. The claim was then sent to the House of Commons administration. In turn, they did not detect the error and I received a refund for the entire claim of $2085.71.

“Shortly after being advised of this error, I wrote a personal cheque for the improper claim of $672.00 and asked that it be delivered to the Receiver General for Canada immediately. I also requested my office to communicate the situation and the reimbursement to Ms. O’Brien and to inquire as to what interest may be owed on the amount.

“Subsequently, and in addition to the scope of the Clerk’s review, I directed my office to undertake a more detailed review of the travel status expenses account during the period of my paid speaking engagements. From this review, we have identified two additional per diem claims from four years ago that should not have been claimed. One is from November 6, 2009, for $83.55, and the other is from May 7, 2010, for $84.50. While I was travelling on those days, the main activities that I undertook were related to contracts with Speaker’s Spotlight and my return home to Montreal. As such, I have reimbursed the Receiver General $168.05.

“As a Member of Parliament, I take full, personal responsibility for the financial administration of my office, including these errors.

“With the new Liberal Party system of proactive disclosure, these errors could have been caught much earlier, so it is our hope that the House of Commons administration will soon adopt a similar system.”

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